‘Big Dog’ rises and shines with his biscuits

Long before the roosters are stirring, Mike “Big Dog” Seekins is making his biscuits rise and shine.

He cracks eggs at the crack of dawn at Biscuits, Burgers and More, a tiny restaurant inside a gas station supermarket at the edge of the Jones County line.

A few hours before his kitchen staff arrives, he goes into “selfie’’ mode and broadcasts “live” on Facebook.

He is the anchor man, camera man and producer, the star of his own show. Just call it “Open Mike Morning’’ on the corner of Highway 49 and Joycliff Road.

“I spread peace, love and doing good deeds,’’ Mike said.

This is his labor of affection. Sure, if there’s a football game on TV, he usually must declare bedtime by halftime. And he has put in a half-day’s work before most folks have reached for the doze button in the a.m.

When you’re the owner, chief cook and bottle washer, the days might not all be good, but there is good in every day.

People have been known to drive from downtown to chow down on his hamburgers. His cheese grits are legendary, and his cinnamon rolls have a cult following. Most orders are “to go,’’ although sometimes by default if all 18 seats are occupied.

You might drive past this place without noticing. There are no flashing neon lights, no chicken and cow commercials. A small sign is barely visible in the front window.

His word-of-mouth-watering biscuits are the best advertising, as well as Yelp, a popular website for finding restaurants and businesses.

“It has brought people here from all over the country,’’ he said. “They pull up ‘best breakfast in Macon,’ and I show up on every search engine. I got a card from the CEO of Yelp for having a five-star rating.’’

He delighted in watching a man from India eat his first hamburger at BB&M, where every item on the menu is named after an Allman Brothers Band member or song.

He has had folks from Panama and Aruba sign the guest book. And ladies on their way from Atlanta to Savannah have been known to exit the interstate and drive 5 miles through East Macon to have lunch at a place with a nice view of A-1 Auto Salvage.

Although his own journey has been circuitous, not all who wander are lost. He’s colorful and sometimes Category 5 crazy, certified total eclectic.

Mike was born 56 years ago in Miami, and was adopted when he was 4 days old by Wally and Betty Seekins, who lived in Macon. The Seekins had two older daughters, Vicki and Nancy. But Betty was unable to birth another child, and they wanted a boy.

His mother worked in Miami during the heyday of the fashion industry. His father was retired from the Air Force and flew 42 missions over the Hump in China with Gen. Robert Scott during World War II. In Macon, Wally Seekins was a real estate developer.

Mike was a two-sport star at Stratford Academy and signed a football scholarship at Presbyterian College in 1980. He dropped out of college and moved back to Macon. His roommate, the late Phil Walden Jr., was the son of the co-founder of Capricorn Records. For three years, Mike sold Allman Brothers merchandise on the road, traveling to every state but Alaska and Hawaii.

He did construction work, too. He and a carpenter named “Larry the Singing Cowboy’’ built the building where he now has his restaurant. He also helped build the Willow Creek Condominiums, where his mother later lived.

For 15 years, he was a Grateful Dead groupie – affectionately known as a “Deadhead” – and attended hundreds of concerts from Wisconsin to Maine. He was employed part-time at the Grand Opera House for 16 years.

His mother taught him to cook in an old cast iron skillet. When he fell in love with the grill, he was cooking whole hogs at age 14. For years, he has been getting requests to cook for special occasions. He’s a popular grillmaster at tailgate parties in Athens, where he has been a Georgia football season-ticket holder for two decades.

Mike has worked as a cook and bartender at dozens of restaurants, dating back to Cag’s on Forsyth Road when he was in high school.

“People ask me where I learned to cook, and I tell them by watching The Food Network,’’ he said, laughing. “It’s the greatest tool there is. They’re professionals, and they’re good.’’

He smacks his biscuits with seasoning right out of the oven, a tip he learned from Emeril Lagasse, one of the pioneer celebrity chefs on The Food Network.

On Jan. 6, 2011, Mike opened a restaurant he called The Blue Box. The idea was to use the “blue plate” concept for take-out.

It didn’t work, so he simplified. The name of the new restaurant was changed to reflect the menu. Biscuits. Burgers. And more, of course.

He proudly promotes it as one of the few places in town where “the owner cooks your food.’’ In the mornings, the door opens at 6 a.m. and, for the first hour, he handles everything by himself.

Customers have been known to leave their money on the counter if he’s too busy to run the register.

“I know more than half of them,’’ he said. “They walk in the door and put their money down. It’s a team effort.’’

By the end of the year, the team will move its game to Poplar Street, where Mike will start a new gig in the former Kennedy’s Drug Store.

The restaurant will be known as Famous Mike’s Gaslight Grill. The décor will include gas lamp posts between the rows of tables in a long, rectangular dining room. He is keeping his BB&M favorites, and expanding the menu. He is excited about bringing together cookbooks with history books.

“I’m going to incorporate the history of Macon in the menu, patterned after recipes from the restaurants of yesteryear,’’ he said.

I asked him about the “Famous” in the name. Does he now consider himself famous? What will it take to be popular on Poplar?

He tells the story of Famous Dave’s, a successful national barbecue franchise, which started out as plain Dave’s. The food was great, but business wasn’t so hot.

“A marketing guy told them to put Famous in front of it,’’ he said. “It had worked for Famous Amos cookies. Famous Dave’s became an overnight success.’’

Success doesn’t have to come overnight for Famous Mike.

It starts early every morning.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 8:00 PM with the headline "‘Big Dog’ rises and shines with his biscuits."